Both of the universities I have been to have gyms that require university ID to enter. One of them is a liberal arts college in a small town, and does not require ID to enter the vast majority of its buildings.
Any big university will have lots of student boarding houses around. Often you can just walk in and use the bathroom; sometimes the kitchen, especially during the day when no one is around.
Big hospitals also have huge locker rooms for their employees. Usually you can just walk in, put your stuff in a locker, take a shower, and no one will pay any attention to you (the security guards, if there are any, are always posted at the entrances to the building; normally you should be able to get in through the underground parking lot and tunnels).
Get arrested
If you knew in advance what kind of chain fitness centers there are in the city you’re visiting, maybe you could sign up for a free trial membership ahead of time.
My office building has a shower in one of the bathrooms. No guards, no security access needed.
Water hose in someones yard. Wear swim trunks under your clothes.
I don’t know about all these people suggesting using college dorms or gyms. At my son’s school that kind of thing is tightly monitored. You need student ID to get in the rec center - they log the visit and they do not let anybody just wander in. I know because I’ve been there many times. Outsiders can enter only as the guest of a student, and they have to pay a day fee. Same with the student housing. With all the expensive tech shit the students have nowadays they don’t want strangers wandering into the living areas, not to mention general safety concerns.
Tough times, Wes?
I remember Santa Fe, New Mexico had a nice little community center on the edge of the city near some hiking trails. A shower could be had there for a pittance. Lots of returning hikers and campers made use of that.
In Bangkok, cheap short-time hotels abound. There’s no law that says you can’t check into one alone. For about 10 bucks American at some of these places, it’s yours for two or three hours, bathroom and shower included.
Now what kind of traveler are you if you don’t have a towel? It’s the single most massively useful thing you can own.
If you have a pot, a spoon, and either a nail or a stone (depending on your taste/preference) you can make nail or stone soup and never go hungry.
Try Couchsurfing, that system where people volunteer to put up travelers, usually for free. Look up people in the city where you are, tell them you’re traveling and that you don’t even need to stay the night, you just need 20 minutes in their shower.
Just get your friends together and pee on each other. Pee is sterile.
Stand under a fire sprinkler and hold up a lighter until you melt the eutectic and the sprinkler goes off. (Unlike in the movies, this only works for the sprinkler head you’re under – it won’t set them all off). Lather, rinse, repeat if needed. Dress quickly and run before the police and fire people get there.
Get a short garden hose and a garden sprayer. Hook it up to a spigot on the backside of a building. Bring a pair of pliers in case the spigot doesn’t have a handle.
Some gyms are nationwide and have reciprocal agreements with gyms in other cities. Get a membership and you’ll be able to find facilities in lots of places.
Public swimming pools would probably be your most reliable and cheapest option. Even in the winter, most major cities will still have pools available.
And admission’s generally fairly cheap. For instance, the indoor pool in my county charges $6/day for adult admission. Bring your own towel, even if you’re not hitchhiking the Galaxy. Or if you’ve left your towel at home, go by a dollar store first, and buy a 3-pack of dish towels for a buck.
And I dont know about these ppl talking about using the hospital staff changing areas. Even in my cowtown, those areas are security access code protected.
Wet Wipes. Good enough for the troops/good enough for you.
You just reminded me of one classmate back in uni. We were in the Anthropology Club, and once a semester there would be a big field trip, almost always to northern New Mexico (we were in West Texas) and involving camping. This one guy would always bring a ton of Wet Wipes with him to wipe himself down every night. In he tent fortunately, where no one could see, but the very thought of it led to much mirth.
I confess to taking “a shower” by running through the sprinklers at La Mirada Regional Park. My brother and I had just finished a round of frisbee golf on a hot day, and that was the easiest and most fun option available.
Not that this is a good idea anyway, but doesn’t the water in those pipes usually sit for years, and is often grimy and bacteria infested, thereby precluding its use for a shower?